A very high rank bestowed by the Sinhalese kings. It appears to have corresponded to the modern Orders. It may have originated in the members of the Order being entrusted with the care of the Hair Relic (Kesadhátu), which was brought to Ceylon in the reign of Moggallána I (Cv.xxxix.49). This duty afterwards evidently became a mere formality. The word Kesadhátu may be an abbreviation of the fuller Kesadhátunáyaka.
We first come across the term in the time of Vijayabáhu I., when a Kesadhátu, Kassapa by name, became governor of Rohana (Cv.lvii.65f). Parakkamabáhu I. conferred the title on his general, the Dandádhináyaka Rakkha. Cv.lxx.19.